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November 22, 2005

Turning the tide

We've grown accustomed to seeing news stories that seek to cast American and coalition troops in the worst light, while terrorists are accorded status as modern day Minute Men. That romantic view of the terrorists seems to be wearing thin.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Exploding buildings, booby-trapped cars and bloodied victims began appearing on Arab satellite television recently in daring dramas that deal with Islamic militancy in al Qaeda's main breeding ground.

The producers of the shows say they are another battleground in the war on homegrown religious zealotry, which many Middle East governments are confronting by crackdowns and media campaigns.

"Al Tareeq Al-Waer" ("The Rugged Path") and "Al-Hur Al-Ayn" ("The Beautiful Maidens") were aired during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a time of peak viewing in the Middle East.

The terrorists are not the good guys in these dramatic productions. Arab world prime time is catching a glimpse from a different perspective.

After al Qaeda turned its attention away from the West to attack Arab and Muslim cities, the need to understand the roots of radicalism assumed extra urgency in the region.

In "The Rugged Path," a community is torn apart when some members wage a violent campaign to remove their "infidel" rulers and install "just Islamic rule," a reference to insurgencies against pro-U.S. governments in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

The story takes place against a backdrop of actual events. As in real life, the Arab-Israeli conflict and U.S.-led operation in Iraq affect the characters' lives and feed their anger.

"There is real suffering in the Arab world, and we need to expose it," said Jordanian Jamal Abou Hamdan, the show's writer. "There is rage in Arab and Muslim societies, but it is being channeled in a wrong way. This repression builds up and explodes, and youth have become susceptible to brainwashing."

"The Beautiful Maidens" is based on an al Qaeda bombing of a housing compound in Saudi Arabia, which killed mostly Arab and Muslim expatriates.

There have been reports of death threats over the production of these stories. No surprise there.